584 Hello Taylor Dayne - Tell It To My Heart

Chart  entered : 23  January  1988

Chart  peak :  3  ( 23  in  a  re-mixed  version  in  1995 )

Number  of  hits : 10

Taylor  is  something  of  a  surprise  qualifier  for  me  as  this,   as  well  as  being  her  only  Top  5  hit  here   is  also  the  only  one  I  can  bring  to  mind.

She  was  born  Leslie  Wunderman  in  Manhattan  in  1962 . She  started  out  as  a  rock  chick  in  college  bands  called  Felony  and  Next. She  also  sang  Russian  folk  songas  in  a  club  frequented  by  Russian  ex-pats. In  1985  she  switched  to  dance  and  started  recording  as  Les  Lee. Her  first  single  "I'm  The  One  You  Want"  is  an  over-cluttered  slab  of  electro  disco  although  there's  certainly  potential  in  her  raw  R &  B  vocals. The  second,  released  the  following  year,  "Tell  Me  Can  You  Love  Me "  is  a  little  cleaner  in  the  production  but   the  song  is  a  bit  generic. Both  were  released  on  a  New  York  independent  label  and  didn't  chart  but  they  raised  enough  interest  to  get  her  signed  up  with  Arista,

She  changed  her  name  to  Taylor  Dayne  which  she  claimed  was  her  mother's  original  intention  before  being  over-ruled  by  her  father.

"Tell  It  To  My  Heart "  was  written  by  professional  songwriters  Seth  Swirsky  and  Ernie  Gold  and  originally  recorded  by  Canadian  singer  Louisa  Florio. That  version  was  little  known  so  Taylor  decided  to  record  it  for  her  first  single. It's  a  straightforward  pop  dance  tune , somewhat  similar  to  Whitney's  I  Wanna  Dance  With  Somebody,  with  Taylor's  black-sounding ( perhaps  why  her  picture 's   not  on  the  sleeve ) roar  well  to  the  fore.  The  video  of  course  revealed  her  to  be  a  hefty  white  girl  with  an  outsize  mouth , big  hair  and  a  considerable  chest.

The  record  took  off  like  a  bomb  in  the  US  reaching  number  7  and  forcing  her  into  the  studio  to   record  an  LP  to  capitalise  on  her  success. She  was  nominated  for  a  Grammy  for  Best  Pop  Vocal, Female  .As  well  as  its  success  here,  it  was  a  huge  hit  in  Europe  reaching  number  one  in  Germany, Holland, Austria  and  Switzerland. A  re-mixed  version  reached  number  23  in  1995, her  last  appearance  in  the  UK  chart  to  date.